Illusions and the Truth
by Aquaheart
Summary: She had done well enough not to cry out, but Neji could only watch for so long until their captor did something drastic. "Are you going to answer me? If not, she'll be screaming something entirely different tonight,"
1. Captured

**A/N: **In the beginning, the word 'Whichet' is pronounced like 'Whish'. The 't' is silent.

_Whichet_

_Whichet _

_Whichet._

The crackling of a whip sliced through the still air, punctuated by the sound of heavy breathing. The girl whose voice belonged the breath was hunched over, her shoulders shaking. Her dark hair had long since fallen out of their usual bun style and her expressive brown eyes brimmed with tears of pain. Luckily or unluckily she was still clothed. Her white shirt was wet with perspiration and water which their captor had thoroughly doused her with before torturing her. The white of her shirt had now been stained red with her own blood. The sweat sticking to her body making every nerve in her system hypersensitive.

_Whichet_

_Whichet_

_Whichet_

Every time the whip came down on her, it lashed at her back, curling around to hit her chest as well. She had her arms wrenched behind her and her muscles ached from having to endure such inhumane treatment. Her fair skin was marred hopelessly by cuts and wounds where the whip had made contact with her skin and only her unwavering will kept her from crying out. That and the person across from her.

He had his brows furrowed in angst and pain. He knew that the only reason he wasn't the one being whipped was because they knew that he could take the pain. The thing that he couldn't handle was watching his teammate be struck right in front of him and he helpless as to easing her suffering. His pale eyes were closed. He hadn't been able to watch her torment for very long.

There was barely any light in the dim room and only the silhouette of their tormentor was visible. Neji watched as Tenten continued to be submitted to the painful interrogation of their captor. He heard more than he saw, but from the sound of it, she was on the edge of consciousness. All at once, the relentless lashings stopped and a voice somewhere above them called out.

"Are you going to tell me why you are both here?" the voice was familiar, though Neji couldn't put a name to it.

The Hyuga remained silent. It wasn't he who was going to be harmed if they were to choose not to answer their captor.

After a moment of silence, Tenten lifted her head up feebly and looked at her comrade.

"Don't tell him anything, Neji. I'll be fine, really," she managed in a hoarse voice.

A second later and a slap to the back of her head silenced her and she fell over onto her side, her eyes closed in an uneasy state of sleep.

"She has a strong will, but you aren't so lucky, Neji. Answer me. Who sent you here and what is your mission?" the voice was harsher this time.

Neji didn't dignify the question with a response, in fact, he didn't even look up. His eyes were locked on his friend who was lucky not to have coughed up so much blood. It smudged the tile beneath her still form, but was otherwise still inside of her body.

"If you value Tenten's life, you will answer me!" the voice was shouting.

"You know that I would never disregard her wishes. Do as you wish, Tenten knows the consequences of failure," Neji replied after a moment.

"Fool! You sound so calm now, but what if I told you that Tenten will be the one to pay for your stupid mistake?" the voice was shouting again, its owner's temper flaring. "If you don't tell me, I'll bring her with me tonight. She may have resisted from screaming out earlier, but she wouldn't last very long with me," there was a smirk in his voice now, as his implications were perverse.

Though Tenten meant a lot to Neji, he didn't necessarily feel for her in the romantic sense. However, this didn't stop him from being protective of her in her weakened state.

"You wouldn't dare," he growled.

"If you don't answer, I will," the smirk was back in place.

None-the-less, Neji was adamant about betraying her. Tenten would be able to take care of herself.

"Take her then. Every shinobi knows that the most severe form of punishment for a failed mission is losing his life. Tenten is no different." He bluffed.

"We'll see about that. Take her to me," the voice commanded their torturer who had been standing over the kunoichi's listless body the entire time.

He scooped her up easily and took her out to the more lighted area of the confine.

"As for you, you'll be locked up until you decide to talk," the voice said with malice in his tone.

A guard came through the door and jerked the young ninja to his feet. His arms were wrenched behind him and he was made to walk to another area of confinement. They walked through the corridor in silence, though the guard enjoyed striking him in the back every so often when the grey-eyed boy slowed. Once they reached his cell, the guard roughly pushed him through and slammed the door shut. It rattled on its rusted hinges for a moment before becoming still.

The long haired shinobi lay on his side, staring aimlessly at the wall. They were bare and in a state of decrepitude. The floor was dirtied by blood and the ceiling seemed to be far above his head. Besides, even if he could reach the top, there was no way that he would be able to free himself from his bindings. Not only were his arms bound tightly behind him, but a chakra inhibiting bracelet was tied tightly around his wrist, which prevented him from even trying to save them during the time he was subjected to watching Tenten's physical torture. His white robes were stained with dust and damp with sweat. He closed his eyes for a moment and their captor's voice rang through his mind.

"_If you don't tell me, I'll bring her with me tonight. She may have resisted from screaming out earlier, but she wouldn't last very long with me,"_

He wasn't sure how he felt about that statement. He didn't have a romantic relationship with his female teammate and as such, didn't feel the way their captor thought he did about her.

_I don't love her, you know. _He smirked at the thought, but a moment later, felt remorse for leaving her so carelessly with a man who may really have the intention of raping her.

_She'll be fine. I need to figure out a strategy in order to escape first. _He thought firmly. But no matter how hard he tried to formulate a plan, he could only concentrate on one thing and that was the mission itself. The mission had been how they had gotten into this mess.

"_Neji Hyuga and Tenten, you two are jounin now. I feel that you are able to handle the responsibilities that this an S ranked mission calls for," The Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade had told them._

_The two young shinobi stood in front of her anxious for their newest mission. Though Neji had completed S ranked missions before, the process was still new to Tenten and she was eager to show Neji that she too, was qualified to become a Jounin. _

"_This may be my first S ranked mission, but I can handle it!" she said enthusiastically to her idol. _

"_That's good, Tenten," the woman smiled at her. _

"_Yes, we shall do our best," Neji knew enough to never be so blind as to promise a success, especially when the missions was as high ranked as this one was._

"_Very well, let me explain to you the details of this mission. You will go to a country very far from here in order to obtain information on an organization that's been wrecking havoc on the other nations…" _

That was as far as Neji got before he felt the cloud of unconsciousness overcoming him.

Tenten awoke in a pitch dark room. She was lying on a bed of some sort and her back was screaming out in pain. Quickly, she tried to maneuver herself so that she was on her side when the sound of movement somewhere beside her caused her tired muscles to freeze.

"Are you awake?" the voice of their captor called out somewhere on her right side.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," she spat, surprised that her voice no longer sounded cracked.. "How long have I been asleep anyway?" she wondered out loud.

It was too dark for her to make out the face of her keeper, but his voice sounded familiar to her. She just couldn't make out his name or face and it irritated her.

"You've been unconscious since after you were whipped. Since you refused to talk, I thought that I should try a different approach," the voice became colder and she felt a movement on the edge of the bed.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"That's irrelevant. Now, do you want to talk or would you like to repeat your ordeal tomorrow?" he threatened.

Tenten gritted her teeth, nervous as to the intentions of the man hovering so close to her.

"Why don't you just kill me? It'll save you time because I'm never going to talk!" she hissed.

"Is that the case?" she felt his hand reach out to cup her cheek and she turned away.

"Don't touch me," she snapped.

"Tell me your purpose for coming here and I'll let you and your teammate go," he commanded her.

"Never. It's not like you can do anything worse than what you've already done, anyway," she retorted.

"Really?" she felt him come closer and lean to kiss the juncture of her neck where it met the collarbone. "If you tell me, I'll heal you too. You don't want scratches like those get infected, do you?" he seemed to take pleasure in her animosity towards him.

Tenten tried to push him away, but her hands were still bound behind her and had no such luck.

"Don't you dare touch me!" she yelled at him.

"That's what your friend said too, but both of you fail to realize that I would dare," there was a hint of malice in his voice and Tenten was sure that he had a much bigger plan that what she had originally thought.

"Start talking, because I have all night before having to deal with your comrade as well," the voice hissed.

"Good luck. Neither of us will ever betray our village!" she insisted, but a moment later was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers, preventing her from saying anymore.

"Like I said earlier, I have all night," there was a smirk in his tone and his intentions were beginning to scare Tenten slightly.

_What have I gotten myself into? _She thought frantically.

A/N:** So this is a much darker fic than the ones I usually write. The inspiration for this story came from another one called "Torture" by Anatidaephobia81. I'm actually quite happy as to how this turned out so I'd like your opinions please! And yes, this will be a multi-chapter story. **


	2. Beginning

Neji awoke to the sound of whimpering coming somewhere beside him. His instincts kicked in and he bolted upright, causing pain to shoot through his still-bound arms. Their sadistic captor hadn't even untied him when he was thrown in the cell. Nearby, the source of the sound was barely visible in the dim light, but Neji could infer as to who it was.

"Tenten? Is that you?" he still feels remorse for so willingly sacrificing her last night, although relieved that she is still alive, regarding the ordeal.

Her back is facing him so all he can see is that her long, chocolate brown hair is still untied and unruly from what appears to be a fitful sleep. She doesn't respond, but only moans in pain. From what Neji can see from his angle, there are visible scratches on her back and arms, and although there is bruising to her upper torso, nothing is too serious.

"Tenten?" he calls a little louder and she stirs this time.

"Neji? Is that you?" her voice is raspy and cracked, as if she is using all her strength to speak.

"Yes, I'm right here," he tries to maneuver himself closer to her as best as he can in his predicament.

As he moves closer, he can see that Tenten is trembling slightly and that her breathing is short and ragged.

"Are you alright? What happened last night?" he asks calmly.

"Nn…nothing that I can remember," she manages to croak.

The pale-eyed shinobi glares at her back, not believing her, though now he feels even worse for abandoning her because of the obvious pain it has left her in.

"It wasn't nothing, Tenten," he states.

Tenten doesn't reply, but curls up into an even more severe fetal position. A moment later she is wracked by coughs and he can see that she is coughing up blood.

"What did he do to you last night?" he demands, wanting so badly to decapitate the man who had so obviously violated her.

"I told you; I don't remember," she gasps and turns over to him.

Neji was absolutely shocked, to say the least. While from behind she appeared whole, Tenten was not. Her stomach had swollen to a huge size, not something that would realistically occur over-night.

_What's going on?_

_Why is this happening?  
How did this happen? _

_Is this even possible?_

All these thoughts run through the Hyuga's mind and he can slowly feel himself become lightheaded. His vision is blurring, his mind is becoming as empty as his memories, and he cannot feel his body…

"Neji! Neji, wake up!"

-o0o-

Neji's eyes shoot open and he jolts upward, giving himself a rush of dizziness from inadequate blood flow to his head. Beside him sits Tenten. Her arms are still bound behind her and she has cuts and scrapes on her arms and upper torso; she even has bruises identical to the ones in his dream. However, the part of her that brings him the most relief is her stomach. It was the same size as it usually was, not engorged like in his nightmare.

"Bad dream," he told her, breathing harshly.

She nods, waiting for him to speak.

"How badly are you hurt?" he asked her subtly.

He wanted to know if their captor had raped her or did anything to worsen her condition, though he wasn't going to be blunt and blatantly ask her. Tenten bit her lip and thought for a moment.

"My back stings and so do my arms, but other than my torso hurting like hell, nothing too bad," she grimaces at him.

Neji gives an audible sigh of relief; at least she didn't seem to be in too much pain, considering all that she had been through. Albeit, Neji is still curious as to what exactly went on yesterday night.

"What did he do to you?" he turned his eyes on her deeply scarred form and she blinks in response.

"I didn't get a good look at him because the room was so dark, but I do know that he built very lean; not like Shikamaru, who's skinny, or Choji who's, well you know. He seems like you, in the body shape anyway. Personality-wise, you and he have nothing in common other than your apathy," she doesn't realize that she hasn't really answered his question.

"Did he try to do anything?" Neji pressed.

He wasn't sure what he wanted her answer to be, but he wanted to gauge the seriousness of their captor. For all they knew, he might be bluffing about everything he said. Tenten closes her eyes to think for and a moment later, her eyes shoot open.

"He kissed me!" she exclaims. "That charlatan! I'm gonna wring his neck when I get the chance," she seems to have forgotten her pain and her teammate could see the fire in her eyes.

"Tenten, calm down. What do you mean by that?" he asks her calmly, though inside he is furious that their captor would stoop so low.

"He said that because he couldn't get information out of me through pain, that he'd try another method. Then, he kissed me! He kissed me! That idiot STOLE MY FIRST KISS!" She vented. "And not only that, but he had the audacity to tell me that he would have all night to get the information out of me! That sleazy ass!"

Neji's eyes narrowed. He had never paid attention to Tenten's romantic life, and was surprised that she had never been kissed before. Sure, she wasn't as girly as most, but she was still female and he assumed that a first kiss meant a lot to her.

Tenten, by now, was fuming. She had hopped to her feet and was now pacing around their small cell.

"And what about my hair? It's all over the place! You sleazy asshole, when I get my hands on you, I'm going to strangle you!" she threatened.

Again, another piece of information that Neji hadn't been too keen on. He knew that she always wore her hair in buns, but was never sure why. He didn't bother asking her though; why bother when there were more meaningful tasks at hand? His comrade had finally calmed down and sat on the floor beside him, breathing angrily all the while.

"If you don't like your hair long, why don't you just cut it?" he asked, looking at her long locks which, when let down, were as long as his own.

She smiled and for a moment his cheerful teammate was back.

"The same reason you don't cut yours," he didn't know whether to take it as an insult or as an explanation.

A moment later, a rustling sound came from somewhere outside their cell and the guard from the day before appeared. He still wore a mask to cover his face and neither ninja was able to ascertain the identity of the man.

"The boss wants to have a little chat with you," he chuckled evilly as he walked over to unlock the cell.

After he pulled open the iron gate he stepped in front of the entrance, blocking their exit. He quickly stepped inside before shutting the gate him and walked over to Tenten.

"Are you going to just stand there?" she asked haughtily.

The guard grinned from behind his mask and chuckled.

"Heh, you're pretty hot," he flattered her.

Tenten flinched at his words; no one had ever called her pretty before. A moment later, she felt the cool metal of manacles and heard them click in place.

"The boss says not to untie you," the guard was talking to Neji now.

The stoic boy gave no response, but remained still as the manacles were attached to him as well.

_I could try to escape now. _The though ran through his head instinctively. _But what if this is the better way to obtain information? _An instant contradiction. He shook his head and they were soon led up to another part of the lair.

They walked up a flight of stairs before being taken into the second room to the left. As soon as they entered the room, Neji noticed that there was nothing in the room at all. It was painted a dull grey, though painted was not the right term. It seemed a barren white that had just dirtied over time. The only pieced of furniture came from an odd looking chair and a camera with a speaker attached mounted on the far right wall.

Neji heard the guard unlock Tenten's constraints, but left her hands tied by the ropes. The guard made no move to undo his.

"The boss heard you bitching earlier about your hair. How'd you like a hair cut?" he grinned sadistically as he pulled out a kunai.

"Touch my hair and die," she stated simply.

"Calm down," the guard chuckled. "First, it's not as if you can actually do anything to me in this state," he motioned to her constraints. "Second, I happen to like you with your hair down, but orders are orders," he said and brought the knife down on her bound wrists.

"Here," he handed her two rubber bands and she quickly put her hair up.

"So your boss is compassionate after all? And here I thought he was just a heartless bastard," she replied tartly.

"Heh, you wish," he said and quickly grabbed her arms, twisting them behind her back and tying them back up.

"Ass," Tenten grumbled, though she knew that immobilization was common of prisoners.

Meanwhile, Neji hadn't spoken a word and had simply been observing their surroundings. Only when the guard dragged him to the chair did he react. The guard secured him to the chair before turning to leave.

"See ya, sweet cheeks," he taunted Tenten.

A moment later, the speaker attached to the camera crackled to life.

"Tenten," the voice was synthetic, as if the owner was just now being cautious.

"As you can see, Neji is tied up and you are unable to do anything," it mocked as Tenten shot the camera where the voice was projecting from a look of death.

"Listen carefully. Neji is strapped to an electric chair. I have the remote that controls the intensity of the shocks as well as the frequency. If you want to save yourself the pain of watching him in agony, I would suggest that you respond to my questions accurately."

Neji raised his eyebrows, but did not feel distressed. At least he would be able to repent for his sins from the other day.

"Tenten, whatever happens to me, don't tell him anything!" he told her harshly and she nodded in understanding.

"Keep in mind that I can see and hear you," the voice came out again.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I didn't talk yesterday, so why would I say anything now?" she seethed.

The voice chuckled over the speaker.

"You may say that now, but when Neji is begging for his life I think you'll be telling e everything I want to know," the chuckling came out again. "First question, we'll start out simple. How long had you been observing this area before getting caught?" it asked.

Tenten shook her head and crossed her arms in defiance while Neji smirked. Whoever their captor was, he obviously did not understand the kunoichi. She was a woman of her word and Neji knew that when he had told her not to say anything, that she would stay true to his wishes. Their trust in each-other had been what had kept their relationship so strong over the years.

"I'll give you two more seconds before giving Neji a taste of voltage," there was a sadistic tone to his voice now.

"Say as much as you'd like. Neither of us will talk," the white-eyed ninja spoke back.

A moment later, he felt a searing pain in his body. The current surged through his body at lightning speed and he couldn't breathe. After a minute, the current had ceased and he was left gasping for air.

"Neji! Are you alright?" Tenten rushed over to him.

"I'm fine," Neji managed between breaths. "Don't worry about me. Close your eyes if you have to," he ordered her.

She bit her lip in anxiety, but respected his wishes none-the-less.

"Let's try this again. What intelligence have you gathered?" the voice spoke again.

Tenten was a little shaken, but managed to keep a clear head and refused to answer him. As a consequence, she heard Neji give a yelp and knew that he was being electrified again. At this point she had to turn away. There was no way that she would be able to watch her teammate be tortured and endure it for long.

Neji was burning on the inside. Whenever the current surged through his body, he could feel it through every one of his neurons. The painstakingly slow speed of the electricity made him wonder just how long he would be able to keep this up. At this rate, it wouldn't be for long. It was a good thing that Tenten seemed to be obeying his orders. Neji knew enough about the human body to know that he would soon pass out, and as long as Tenten didn't reveal any information until that point, their captor would not obtain any information.

"I can keep increasing the voltage, you know. Next question," and thus it went by for an hour.

-o0o-

"Ten..ten. Don't…say…anything," Neji was on the brink of unconsciousness.

Tenten had been doing well at not saying anything, but it seemed that her will power was about to leave her. He knew how painful it was to watch the one you care about be tormented in front of you; that was what he had gone through yesterday, but he also knew how important resilience was. If she gave up information now, all that he had gone through would be lost. He wanted to tell her this, but he could no longer manage the effort to speak. All of his willpower was being used to keep breathing and it felt that at any moment that action would fail him as well.

"Neji," her eyes glazed with tears as she turned to face him.

She had done her best not to say anything to their captor and had been successful, to her joy. But now the time was approaching when she would have to make a choice between life or death.

_If it was my life on the line, there'd be no doubt about my answer, but this is Neji! I don't want to make the decision to end his life. No one has that right, not even him! So what do I do? If I give in now, everything we've done will have been in vain. But if I don't do anything, Neji might be killed! _Tenten's thoughts raced through her mind and as smart as she was, all logic left her and she didn't remember that he would simply pass out before dying.

"Ten….ten," Neji croaked before falling limp.

"What?" she thought for a moment before suddenly understanding.

_The body has its own form of self-preservation. When introduced to small periods of pain, it registers the dangers and becomes slightly tolerant. After that tolerance has been exceeded, the body, which has had enough time to prepare for survival, will shut down meaning that the person will become unconscious! _

She smiled knowing that Neji was safe, for the moment at least. Though, she had to admit, that was no easy feat to accomplish.

"What are you going to do now? It seems as if your bargaining tool has just passed out," she declared triumphantly.

The speakers made an irritated noise.

"You may have succeeded this time, but it won't be long until you succumb to my ways," and with that the speakers turned off and the guard walked back in.

"Someone's stubborn, aren't they?" he mocked, grabbing Tenten's wrists and shoving her out the door.

"What about Neji?" she asked.

"I guess the boss'll just have him thrown to the fishies," He grinned evilly. "You are so much more worthy of being kept," he chuckled as Tenten shivered in anxiety.

**A/N: **This is just a heads up that for quality control reasons as well as time constraints, this story will be updated whenever. There is no set time as to when the next chapter is up, the only notice is that it will be at least a couple times a month. Definitely do not expect an update every week. This goes back to quality control.


	3. Intentions

The walk back to her cell was something that Tenten felt she could do without. The dark musty feel of the dank corridors sent shivers down her spine that lasted long after she had been thrown into her cage. The way the guard was treating her did nothing to help her mood. Every now and then he would make a snide remark about what would happen to Neji and every time she felt herself tense against the ropes which bound her to him. She had a feeling that he was rather enjoying the whole thing, however.

"He may just be chopped in half. The boss has a fondness for a katana, you know," the guard jeered once more.

"Shut up!" the kunoichi finally snapped.

For the past few moments, she had endured his insolent attitude, but at this point he was just driving her insane. The guard did nothing but chuckle from under his hood.

"Heh, someone's a little touchy about her boyfriend," he jabbed.

"He's not my boyfriend and he's twice the shinobi you'll ever be!" she replied hotly.

"Eh, whatever happens, happens," he replied nonchalantly.

Soon they had arrived at her cell and Tenten found herself being pushed inside.

"Since he used the boy today, he'll probably use you tomorrow," the guard concurred.

"Who's _he_?" the bun-haired kunoichi wanted to know.

Ever since their capture, both the guard and with the exception of the first night, their captor or "boss" as he was commonly referred to, had kept their identities a secret.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the guard teased before shutting the door and leaving her alone.

Tenten narrowed her eyes at his retreating form, wishing she could shove a kunai down his throat. A moment later she sank to the back wall, drawing her knees up towards her chest, she began to brain storm.

_They won't kill him, he's too useful as a means of getting information from me; Kami knows that he won't reveal anything. _She deduced.

_So what would they do with him? _She thought for a moment, numerous answers coming to her, but none that would help in their situation.

It wasn't long before she dozed off, the exhaustion of the day finally overcoming her. Unfortunately for Tenten, however, even in her dreams she was unable to find tranquility.

-o0o-

She stood on top of a hill, the end of one of her scrolls billowing out beside her.

She couldn't remember where she was, but looking over to her right, she saw a lone figure standing with his back to her. He was a few meters away and the long, brown hair flowing around his head was a dead-giveaway as to whom he was.

"Neji, hey!" Tenten called from her position on the hill.

The ninja turned to face her and she realized just how great the distance between them was. They were standing in a semi-enclosed space with a vast forest surrounding them. The ground was eroded in some places and several craters marred the earth where Neji may have been training.

"Let's spar!" she called over the rushing wind when Neji gave no response.

A moment later and she had to fight to keep her balance. Above, an ominous purple cloud had formed and was quickly approaching where the two stood, precariously perched at the top of a hill none-the-less.

"Never mind, let's just go home!" she tried once more when her teammate gave no indication of moving.

By now the clouds were right over-head the two and Tenten found herself running towards the Hyuga, frantically trying to get him to move out of harm's way. It was obvious at that point that he wasn't going to move anytime soon and she felt compelled to drag him by force if necessary. But no matter how fast Tenten ran and no matter how much she pushed herself, she didn't feel the distance between them decrease. She kept running, hoping that she could move him before the storm hit, but her efforts were in vain. A tremendous rumbling came from the sky and a moment later the first steak of lightning fell. It crackled against the now dark-blue background and with every stroke, Tenten could feel her heart beat double.

"Neji, I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I'm sorry! Just please, move!" she gasped, but the jounin still didn't waver.

"Move, get out of the way! You'll be hit!" she yelled at him, watching in horror as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky.

In the next instant, her worst fears were realized when the final stroke of lightning came down and struck him.

"No!" the words were spoken in a gasp, for she had run out of breath a while ago. "Why, Neji, why?" she echoed as she saw his body violently shake as the electricity surged through him.

She suddenly couldn't breathe; her heart hitched in her chest but refused to carry the oxygen to her lungs. She fell to her knees and gasped for air, all the while looking on at Neji who was still suffering the effects of the lightning.

-o0o-

Tenten bolted upright, her breathing coming in ragged pants and shakily wiped the sweat from her brow.

_What was that? _Her realistic dream came back to her mind and she was force to lie back down in order to calm her racing heart. After her erratic breathing had been stabilized, the brown-haired kunoichi slowly sat up, careful as to not give herself a head-ache.

"You're ok," she told herself and took a deep breath.

Still, the dream had seemed too real. It was as if her subconscious self had been trying to torture her consciousness. Tenten shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts to no avail. It did remind her however, that her hair was still in their buns, something that made it a little more bearable. When her hair was down, it tended to knot and tangle fairly easily and she didn't want to have to deal with that now of all times.

"Is the kunoichi awake?" a voice taunted from outside her cell.

"What?" Tenten snapped groggily. She was in no mood to play any games with the gate-keeper.

"The boss wants to see you," he said with sadistic hint in his voice and Tenten immediately wanted to slap him.

"Oh does he? Tell the sleazy ass to come back another time," she replied hotly.

The guard merely chuckled. "You don't get that luxury," he said and slid open the cell door.

He walked over to where she was sitting and bound her hands together behind her back. By now Tenten had given up on trying to escape through the cell and was planning a more elaborate means of exit after she had discerned the identity of their captor.

"Now if you'll just be a good girl when you talk to him, I think everything will go so much more smoothly," he said and led her into the lit corridors.

The angered kunoichi refused to dignify his comment with a response and the two walked in silence. Once they had walked up a flight of stairs, the guard stopped them in front of a door.

"We can't have you finding out too much stuff, yet," he said and produced a blindfold from the same pocket that had produced the rubber bands the other day.

He swiftly tied the blindfold around her head and only after feeling him make sure that it was secure did Tenten hear the creak of the door being opened. He walked her inside but a moment later, she felt him leave her side. Immediately she felt a presence somewhere to her left and turned her head in the general direction.

"You summoned me, your Highness?" she said sarcastically.

"Yes," he replied and she found herself wondering who he was. "I think it's about time we had those wounds of yours looked at,"

"Where's Neji?" she asked, ignoring his response.

"No where you need to know," he replied and led her to sit on a table of sorts.

Tenten remained quiet; it was a technique she had picked up from her sensei. If she listened carefully she wouldn't miss even the slightest indications as to the whereabouts of her teammate.

"Those scratches look deep. You don't want them to get infected, now do you?" he taunted in a silky voice.

The enraged kunoichi didn't want to respond, but felt obliged to when she felt the familiar cool-metal feel of a kunai being pressed to her skin. She almost flinched but before she could, she felt the blade run the length of her shirt, cleanly cutting it in two.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, turning to her left side again.

"Putting antibiotics on your wounds," came the reply.

"Oh no you don't. I can do that myself if you're so concerned," she said defensively.

"But applying that to your back is a feat that even you can't accomplish," he was teasing her again and Tenten felt her blood boil. If her hands hadn't been bound together, she would've knocked him out by now.

"Besides," he continued calmly. "This wasn't really a shirt after the whipping,"

Once her shirt was removed from her body, Tenten felt the metal again, this time, against her bra.

"No," she said sternly and moved away from the blade.

He pinned her against the kunai and she didn't dare move in the event that it cut away her undergarment and cut her in the process. She felt the material slide away from her body and she instantly felt the urge to cover herself up. Instead, she took a deep breath in order to keep her cool. There was no time for modesty in a life or death situation.

"I assume you have an extra bra lying around in my size?" she said half-sarcastically.

Her chest wasn't small, but not overly large either and for that matter she was grateful. If she had been like Ino, she would've been horrified. Nonetheless, whoever had stripped her of her modesty would surely pay.

"You can bind yourself with the ropes" he replied and she felt a cold hand touch the small of her back.

At that Tenten wanted to make a face. It was a misconception that kunoichi bound their chests like they use to. Most nowadays wore bras because they were light-weight and didn't hinder movement like traditional ropes did. They also didn't take so much time to put on and honestly, no one wanted their male teammates to walk in on them while getting dressed. The weapon's mistress merely tossed her pride out the window in order to maintain her dignity. She resolved not to speak to the man that had exposed her, but that intention left her a moment after a she felt something cool on her back.

At first it was a numbing type of feeling, but then it started to sting and she couldn't help but give a slight "ouch." 

"Does that hurt?" he purred close to her ear.

Tenten still refuse to answer his question and he did nothing to provoke her.

"If you had been a good girl, you never would've gotten these scratches in the first place," he murmured, his voice like honey.

Tenten realized that had she not been such a strong kunoichi, then she would've fallen for this man's charms a while ago.

"Stop trying to seduce me. It's not going to work," she said haughtily.

The man behind her gave no response, but she could feel his touch getting softer and lighter, almost as if to calm her down. Tenten realized this however, and was determined to keep her sanity.

"Don't be so tense," he said and bent his lips to brush at the side of her neck.

Tenten audibly gasped, her mind racing back to her stolen first kiss.

"Don't. Touch. Me," she enunciated each syllable, which only earned her a chuckle from the man.

He had finished rubbing the salve on her back and now moved to her front. Tenten felt the urge to kick him, but realized the idea was rather stupid as she would be doing so blindly and he would see it well in advance.

_Don't waste energy._ She thought ruefully.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said and began to apply the salve on her chest in slow, deliberate strokes.

The pain on her chest was more painful than the one from her back and Tenten immediately jerked.

"Stop moving so much," he told her and stroked his thumb over her cheek.

"Stop that!" she hissed, her anger taking over. "You stole my first kiss, you bastard!" she seethed.

A chuckle emitted from the man and she realized just how little he cared.

"I'll do more than that if you don't cooperate," he said darkly and Tenten immediately swung her leg at him.

He caught it with ease. "Nice try," he told her, much to her anger.

"Pervert," she mumbled and he didn't respond.

"I don't need to be," he said, all traces of maliciousness gone and replaced with a silky voice that any girl would die to hear her name from.

Her whole torso now stung and Tenten made that evident with her squirming.

"The pain will go away momentarily," he said the words with such ease and fluidness that Tenten almost believed him.

He then shamelessly trailed kisses from her collarbone down to the space between her breasts, much like a lover would.

"If you don't give me grief, you'll be much better off," he sighed against her clammy skin.

Tenten by now was hyperventilating. There was no way that she was going to last long with this torture. She didn't feel heated by their captor, but with his relentless means of torture, she felt that she was going to crack if only to get away. And just like that she had an idea.

_I can't believe I'm about to do this. Kami, please never ever let Neji or Gai or Lee find out! _She prayed.

A moment later, she melted into his caresses. The man seemed to be surprised. He smiled and ran a finger along the edge of her face. Tenten shuddered at the feeling it gave her. She then felt him leave and grab something from nearby. He then wound a cloth around her torso and was immediately grateful.

"Better?" he teased.

"Definitely," she replied with obvious sweetness.

"Good," he said and at that, Tenten started to feel affected by his voice. 

It was soothing and calming, with the right amount of perversity and fierceness that even a strong woman would have trouble fending off.

"Let's take it a step further, shall we?" she forced herself to say.

"It looks like someone wants more than just a taste," he said wryly.

She wanted to gag on his metaphor, but Tenten persevered.

_If he's like most of the other guys I know, he should melt pretty soon. _She thought happily. _I just need to last until then. _

"Please?" she replied, with the right amount of minx in her voice.

She didn't hear his reply, but felt him stand up and pull her up.

"Yes," He replied after a moment.

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to either this story or myself! I appreciate all the comments and subscriptions, truly! This chapter is where the M rating does come into play, I suppose, so just a warning to everyone out there, don't expect fluff. With that said, I'm grateful for those who are sticking with me on this trying story. Thank you and see you during the next chapter! Oh and as always, reviews are appreciated!


	4. Evasive

Because she was still blindfolded, Tenten's captor wasted no time pulling her out the door. She felt the light on her face for a brief moment before being pulled into a dark room somewhere to her left. She felt the insistent need of her captor; he was still a man after-all. He led her inside a pitch black room and pulled off her blindfold, though still leaving her hands bound. She was unsure what his motives were at the moment and only prayed that he wouldn't find out her amateur display.

He pushed her backwards onto a bed, which wasn't too large, based on the feel of it. A moment later, he captured her lips with his and Tenten felt the urge to gag. This was the most dehumanizing mission she had ever been on and it certainly wasn't boding well for her. None-the-less, she persevered and forced herself to fall, willing, into his clutches. Due to the confined size of the bed, every move he made, she could feel. The closeness of her captor made her feel detestation towards him, but she could do nothing now except to pretend that she was needy and that he was the only one to satisfy her. Tenten felt, rather than saw the kunai pressing against her wrist bindings and struggled against the metal.

"You'd better stop before someone gets hurt," he told her haughtily and she froze, afraid once more.

After he was finished removing the bindings on her wrist, he began to place kisses on her neck. He continued the abuse, seeming to fall for her intentions and no matter how hard the kunoichi tried, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to stand being so intimate with her captor for much longer. She did her best to speed up the process, running her fingers through his hair and trying, desperately to see the face of the man whom had captured her. It was to no avail, being as the room was so dark anyway. No matter how close she got to him, Tenten was unable to discern his identity.

"Aren't we impatient?" he taunted before throwing off his outer garments and tugging at her pants.

He threw both articles of clothing to the ground and turned back to her, both of them now completely exposed.

"We should slow down," he said and somehow managed to flip her over.

Tenten gasped in surprise before feeling hands roaming along her back. She then let out an involuntary sound of pleasure once he began to massage her shoulders. He didn't say anything, but continued to unwind her muscles, which were taut after what she had endured the past few days. He caressed her skin and made her feel like jelly. True, though she didn't exactly like his company, she couldn't deny that the sensations running through her body were less than satisfactory.

It seemed like an eternity of bliss before Tenten finally awoke in a dreamy daze.

"How was it?" she was still lying on her stomach as he asked her.

He was now stroking her hair in an innocuous manner.

"Relaxing," she replied earnestly, surprising herself.

"See what happens when you cooperate?" He teased lightly.

"Mmhmm," she replied, finally clearing her head and turning onto her back.

"Now, it's my turn," he replied, and attacked her jugular with his lips.

The momentary feeling of euphoria wore off and Tenten immediately felt the effects of him. She was no longer blissful, but wanted to get away. The only reason she was doing this was in a vain attempt at gathering information.

His actions by now were rougher, more careless. He groped her fiercely in a lustful daze.

"Is this your first time?" he asked, his thumb tracing circles on her arms.

"Yes," she replied breathily. Her voice was becoming easier to disguise and she was sure that he couldn't hear the disgust behind it.

_I'm about to do this with someone I don't even know. Great. _She thought sarcastically.

"Lucky for me then," he said and kissed her swiftly once more.

Tenten felt herself take a deep breath, one full of regret. _It's too late now._ She thought and prepared herself for the worst.

He loomed over her and she closed her eyes. She braced for the feeling of pain and repulsion. However, in the next moment, she felt him push away from her and heard him throw on his clothing.

"What?" she spoke before her brain could process the words.

"Did you think that you were the only one playing that game?" his voice had lost its playful tune and was now cold and harsh.

"What game?" she asked evasively as he threw her pants at her.  
She caught them and hurriedly pulled them on.

"Your seduction skills are decent, but by the book. It made everything too predictable," He informed her.

Tenten's mind blanked. Had he really figured it out that quickly? And if he had, how should she react?

"Don't bother playing dumb, we both know that you aren't stupid," He said and walked over, tying the blindfold around her once more.

"What gave it away?" she hissed, giving into her lie.

He seemed to smirk.

"You kept pushing me away before. There was no way that you would suddenly melt and give into my wishes," He explained and led her out the door. "But you gave a nice effort," he said.

"Where's Neji?" she asked once more.

"Dead," he replied, seeming to tire from the question.

"You're lying," she hissed.

"And if I am?" he replied easily.

Tenten gave no response and allowed herself to be lead to the unknown.

-o0o-

Neji opened his eyes and saw white. The room where he was currently in was completely bare with stark, white walls. He had awakened after his torture tied to a post in the middle of the room. His eyes raked over his surroundings before closing.

_The door is about two and a half meters from my position. There are no windows in this room. Someone is watching me from behind and has fallen asleep. Based on the humidity in the room, we must be somewhere high in altitude and the slightly salty smell coming from the vent, which is four paces to the left above me, indicates that a large body of water is nearby; namely an ocean. _

He concluded all this without the use of his Byakugan. The chakra band put in place by their captor was still tightly encasing his wrists. There would be no relying on his infamous bloodline trait this time.

_Based on the feeling of the floor, I must be on solid ground. That makes it safe to assume that I'm at the highest point of this space. _

Neji thought furiously, trying to grab onto any bit of information that might be of use to him. He glanced around to his left and right side; the guard directly behind him hidden from view.

_This guy must be stupid. He's fallen asleep whilst guarding a prisoner. _Neji inwardly chuckled at the thought.

_Sending chakra to any part of my body would yield disastrous results. _Neji narrowed his eyes at the constricting feeling on his wrists. He had once experimentally attempted to use his Byakugan with the bands in place the same day they were captured and had been trapped in a gen jutsu for nearly an hour according to Tenten.

_But what if I get this off? _The ninja began to plan.

_I have no weapons on by body and there's nothing in this room that could possibly be used to take it off. Even if I managed to trick the guard, what if he can't take it off? What if the person who put this thing on is the only person that can remove it? _His mind hurled a thousand possible outcomes at him, yet none seemed to be effective enough to work.

Instead, Neji tried another approach. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. This method had come about from a training session with Gai and the other members of Team 9. The pale eyed boy never thought that he would ever need to resort to this tactic, but it was worth a try. The memory burned in his mind and Neji let the reminiscence commence.

Flashback 

"Tenten and Lee, you two go spar. Neji, I would like a word with you please," Gai told them one spring day.

"Do you understand how your mind works, Neji?" Gai asked him as soon as his other students had dispersed to train.

"I believe so," Neji responded.

He was slightly taken aback by the question his sensei had asked him. Team 9 had been together for a year now and he had never been talked to privately by his sensei before. Usually, any praise he had to give the young Hyuga was done so in a public manner in the presence the other two.

"Let me ask you this. How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator? "Gai asked.

"What?" Neji was unsure had had heard his teacher correctly.

"You heard me correctly. How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?" Gai responded simply.

It was no lie that the green-clad jonin was a bit eccentric, but Neji didn't see what such an audacious question entitled.

"First you kill the elephant. That can be done in a number of ways, the simplest would be by hitting a vital point with a kunai. Next, you would have to cut it up in order to make it fit. Afterwards, you could individually package each part of the elephant and put it into the fridge," Neji answered methodically, feeling silly whilst doing so.

"Or you could open the fridge, put the elephant inside the fridge, and shut the door," Gai responded equally serious.

"But, sensei-" Neji was cut off by his teacher.

"You over think the process. Likewise, you also over think battle strategies," He informed his pupil.

"What do you mean, sensei? Physics dictates that-" Neji was one again cut off.

"It does not matter how the elephant fits in the refrigerator, so long as you get it inside. Now, likewise, the problem with you is that you create more problems for yourself by making up complex battle strategies. You over think the process and end up with too much time lost. The end result is just as important as the steps taken to get there, Neji," Gai instructed him.

The young boy stood there, dumbfounded by what his teacher had told him. He had never been one to be insulted for low intelligence, yet here, Maito Gai, was correcting him.

"Do you understand my point, Neji?" his sensei asked him after a moment.

"Yes, sensei," he replied.

"Very good. Now, off to training, my young student!" his teacher said in his usual colloquial tone.

It was the first time that Neji had ever been corrected by Gai and the thought was still new to him.

_Over thinking the process? _His mind asked him. Nonetheless, he accepted his teacher's advice and took it to heart, though smugly thinking that the knowledge would never be of use to him.

End Flashback

This situation brought new light to the Hyuga, however and he was forced to utilize this seemingly pointless tactic. He emptied his mind and thought of absolutely nothing, hoping that maybe something would catch his attention. After a few silent moments, however, still, nothing came to the boy.

_What's the use of clearing my head if it yields no results? _He scowled.

The sound of the guard yawning caused Neji to stiffen. He waited as the guard got up and began pacing toward him.

"Guess I feel asleep," the cloaked man informed Neji. "Don't tell the boss," he sneered at his joke. "Meh, I gotta go. Don't even think about trying to escape," he chuckled at this before leaving.

It was then that Neji was hit with a plan. It wasn't exactly anything that would enable him to escape at that very moment, but it would be of use later. He listened carefully as the guard walked down the hallway.

_Fifteen paces down the hall. _He thought.

The sound of a door being shut alerted Neji to a general location of where the room was. He heard the flushing of a toilet and the guard coming back.

_A straight walk down the hallway fifteen paces leads to a bathroom. If I am located at the highest point of the space, the pipes need to flow downward in order to empty out into the sewer. It's obvious that it doesn't empty out into the ocean because then the air would be pungent. So where does it lead? _

The guard had stepped back into the room at this point and was standing in front of the long haired boy.

"While I was gone, I thought I heard your little girlfriend. She seemed to be enjoying herself," the guard waggled his eyebrows in tone with his perverse implications.

Neji wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not, but thought better of the matter and decided to ignore it. There was no proof that he was telling neither a lie nor the truth.

"How thin are the walls?" he asked instead, disguising the true nature of the question by making it seem as if he wanted to divulge the truth of the guard's word.

An animalistic grin appeared on the guard's face, though his hood was drawn and Neji couldn't make out all his facial features.

"Jealous, are we?" he taunted and walked over to the wall, kicking it with his heel. "Not very, but she was making a lot of racket. Besides, it's the ceiling where I heard it from," he laughed darkly at this.

Neji fought to keep a smile off his face and instead hardened his glare.

"If either of you touches her, it will be the last thing you ever do," he threatened, lacing his words with venom.

The guard laughed freely at this.

"If only you could, little Leaf ninja, if only you could," he jeered.

Neji pretended not to have heard the remark; instead, he began to formulate a plan.

_Based on the sound the wall made when it was kicked, the pipes flow through there. That means that we're on the left side of a cliff. If I manage to get through the right wall, I have a chance of escaping. But I need to find Tenten first. _This deduction made Neji feel much more at ease. The problem with trying to find Tenten would be an issue, however.

_I shouldn't leave her behind as a comrade. But in a case like this, what if that's the only chance I've got? _He contemplated.

Just as his internal struggle began, the decision seemed to be made for him as the sound of a creaking door snapped him out of his thoughts. A masked man appeared guiding Tenten by the wrists. He was concealed behind a long, black cloak and the kunoichi was blindfolded so there was no chance of either of them discerning his identity.

"She looks like she had fun," the guard poked as Tenten was lead to where Neji sat.

She was tied beside him before her blindfold was taken away.

"Neji?" she gasped once she saw him.

"Shh," he whispered, inclining to their captors.

"She was interesting," the masked man responded. "No information though,"

"So boss, what're we gonna do with them?" the guard asked the masked man.

"Leave them here. No food for a week. Let's see if that'll make them talk," Neji heard the masked man respond.

"Heh, sounds like fun," the guard responded and with that the two of them walked out.

**A/N: **Thank you so much for sticking through with me on this! I know it's been a little bit, but I just wanted to give you guys a note on that. On my profile, there's a status, which I always keep up to date. If I seem to be taking longer than usual, I'm probably on hiatus, which should be stated on my status. But other than that, feel free to review! It makes writing very much worth it!


	5. Burned

Tenten stayed quiet until they heard the sound of the guards' footsteps wane. She knew the importance of staying silent until sound was absolutely necessary. Being partnered with the ever-stoic Neji helped greatly in this practice. It was only after she could no longer hear the sounds of footsteps that she allowed herself to speak.

"Neji, where have you been?" she asked at last.

"After I woke up, I was tied here into this room. What about you?" he asked her out of politeness. He didn't really care to know in case the guard hadn't been bluffing.

"Uh, I was captured and lead to the head of this place. He interrogated me, but I resisted," she seemed to shy away from the subject and Neji felt that it was best to leave it at that.

There was a moment of silence while he contemplated the information that he had already gathered.

"Have you found any useful information?" Neji asked her suddenly.

"No, not particularly. Although, the room that I was being kept in was one floor above here and on the right side of the hall way, thirteen steps until after the stairs if you need to know," she explained.

Neji took this all into account when he inwardly groaned. It looked like the guard hadn't been lying after all. Quickly, he explained to her the information that he had been able to ascertain and she nodded, already used to his information gathering abilities.

"So the question now would be how to get out of here, right?" she asked.

"That's right," he confirmed.

"You said that there's an ocean below us. If we can hear the waves, then the entrance should be on the floor below us then!" Tenten exclaimed.

"The problem with your theory, Tenten, is that you are basing that on the idea that we are trapped in one building structure. However, you forgot to take into account our captivity. When we were in the cell, we couldn't hear anything. Also, the dirt wasn't damp enough to have come from the ocean. No, we are trapped in a building that is two parts, one on the east side, facing the ocean and the other on the west side, facing dry land," he explained.

Tenten sighed. She never could keep up with her genius teammate.

"Have you taken into account our altitude?" he asked her and she shook her head.

"Think about it for a moment," he told her and became silent.

Panic ran through Tenten's mind. Neji wanted _her _to come up with a strategy? What was she going to do? No, calm down. She needed to focus. It was then that she heard it. There was the soft cry of a bird and she immediately understood what he was trying to say.

"Birds!" she said without really understanding his point.

"Exactly," he said. "Based on the sound of their calls, those birds are flying from east to west and because birds always fly toward land, we can infer that we are on the eastern side of the land,"

"Let me get this straight, we're on the east side of the land, on the east side of the building, and somewhere high up?" she asked.

"That is correct," he told her.

"And because you said that the plumbing flows to the left wall, the pipes must run south-west," she said slowly.

"Correct," he replied.

"Great! So what can we do with this information?" she asked eagerly.

At this, Neji had to let her down.

"Nothing yet. We're still missing too much information to be able to make a safe escape attempt. For starters, we need to go around this base a little more. I need to know if there are any other points of entry, a window perhaps," he explained.

"Right," Tenten answered a bit crestfallen.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Neji fervently tried to come up with something, anything that would help them escape.

_If we managed to get through the vent, it's safe to infer that it goes to at least the middle of the building. Once we drop down, it should be a relevantly easy task finding an exit, so long as we avoid any persons. That must be the only way out. Now, how do we get up there? Even with Tenten on my shoulders, there's no way that our height would be sufficient. If I could-_

Neji's thoughts were interrupted by a gasp from his teammate.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"Neji, don't you understand?" she asked.

"Understand what?" he replied, not even trying to mask his irate voice.

"We can hear the sound of birds and waves through the wall!" she exclaimed. "That means that the walls are thin! Also, we have to be really close to the outside! If we can break through this wall, we're free!" she explained happily.

Neji was in masked shock. He had always knew that his teammate was resourceful and intelligent, but to figure out something so simple? How could he miss such an important thing? Something so simplistic?

"Gai-sensei was right," he mumbled.

"What?" Tenten asked him.

"Nothing. Good job, Tenten," he had to give her credit for her brilliance.

Tenten took his compliment with a laugh.

"So now the question is, how are we going to get out of here?" she told him.

"If we could break out of these binds and if I could get rid of the chakra inhibiting band on by wrist, I'd be able to get us out easily with the Gentle Fist," he said.

"The only matter is how to do that." She chimed.

A voice overhead of them caused Tenten and Neji to jump.

"It seems that I've underestimated you two. Forget starving you, you'll probably be too resilient and I'm not a very patient person," he said and another hooded guard walked toward them.

_Damnit. He can hear us in here too? _Neji cursed.

"Let's go, you two," the guard said and untied the two leaf ninja.

They were quickly secured with a rope and he led them to another room six paces to the right of their location.

The guard tied her to a pole in the middle of the room, much like she was before. Neji, however, was once more tied to a chair. The guard left for a moment and returned with a basin full of liquid. He dipped Neji's hands in the basin and Tenten could only guess as to what it was. However, she understood with a mortifying clarity when the guard left and came back with a candle.

"You understand, girlie?" the guard taunted.

"That's oil," she gasped, not daring to look at her teammate's face.

"Good job. Right you are," the guard gave a sadistic smirk from behind his hidden face.

"You know what will happen right?" he seemed to enjoy making her squirm.

Tenten couldn't believe it. Usually the tortures were alternative between her and Neji, but Neji had just been subjected to electrocution. It made no sense and she voiced so.

"The boss wants what he wants," was all the guard said. "But anyways, I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're going to answer them. Otherwise," he made a point by brining the candle as close to Neji's hands as possible.

Tenten watched as the brown haired ninja's face contorted with pain.

"Now, we're gonna start easy. What's your name?" the guard asked the kunoichi.

Tenten turned down, looking away from her captor. She needed to make a decision right now.

_If I don't tell him, he'll burn Neji. If I do tell him, he'll think that I'm going to comply. What should I do? _

She turned anxiously to Neji to see if he would give her any kind of signal as to what she should do, but the guard blocked her view. Soon, she decided that there was no harm in telling him something that he already knew.

"Tenten," she choked.

This seemed to please the guard and he smiled.

"Very good. Now, what's his name?" he inclined toward Neji.

Tenten scowled. Why did he ask them questions he already he knew the answer to? She voiced this thought, though he seemed unfazed by her question.

"You need to teach a dog to lie down before you can teach it to play dead," he answered coldly. "Now, I was the one asking questions and you still haven't told me his name," he added impatiently.

"Neji," Tenten told him raggedly.

"And where are you two from?" At this, Tenten wanted to shout. He was asking such stupid questions just to agitate them!

"As if you don't already know," she hissed.

Right after she said that, she heard Neji cry out. The guard was holding the candle right by his hands and the oil was reacting negatively to it.

"Ok, stop! I'll tell you!" she exclaimed, unable to watch her teammate suffer. "We're from the Leaf Village," she choked, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady.

The guard took the candle away and turned to her.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked cynically. "Look, I'm not very patient either so you had better answer my questions, lest you want your friend to get hurt," he sneered.

Tenten could hear the sound of Neji's gasps, punctuated by her own shakiness.

"Who sent you here?" the guard asked.

The bun-haired girl felt that it would be unfair to subject Neji to any unnecessary pain. So long as they were being asked questions that didn't danger the village, she felt no need to withhold ever bit of information. The fact that the Leaf Village was headed by the Hokage was no new fact.

"Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage," Tenten breathed, still shaking.

"How long has it been since she sent you?" the questions kept coming.

At this, Tenten clammed up. The true intention of this question was to determine how much information they had been able to obtain.

"No answer? You have until the count of three," the guard threatened and Tenten shut her eyes, silently apologizing to Neji.

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One,"

Tenten waited for a scream, but Neji was prepared as well and took the brutality of being burned rather silently. For this, Tenten was grateful. She didn't know how long she would be able to take it if Neji was voicing his pain.

"How far into the mission were you before getting caught?" the guard tried again.

Tenten refused to answer this as well and this time, she could hear Neji's suffering.

"I'm sorry, Neji," she whispered to him.

Somewhere in front of her, she could hear his ragged breathing.

"What information have you gathered?"  
He was met with more silence and brought the candle to Neji's hands once more. This time, Neji gave a cry of pain.

_He's getting second degree burns because of me. _Tenten thought hopelessly, although she knew that he would never forgive her if she gave away any information.

"Do you not care about your teammate very much? Because it sure seems that way," the guard chuckled and dipped Neji's hands in the basin of oil once more.

"Stop it. Once you give him third degree burns, the nerves will be killed. He won't be able to feel a thing. You operate on the basis of pain, without it, you won't be able to function. Just stop now before you lose your edge," Tenten bargained weakly.

The man seemed to have already known this and merely chuckled.

"What he doesn't feel now, he will later. Without any medicine he's sure to get an infection. If the burns don't kill him, that certainly will. Now answer me girl. What do you know?" he asked more forcefully.

Tenten still did not answer, instead she hung her head in an attempt to keep her sanity.

_He's right, but if I give him any information, who's to say that he won't kill us afterward? _She thought desperately. _Neji, what should I do? _

She desperately wanted to ask her teammate for advice, but was afraid that if she heard his voice, she would completely fall apart. And so, she suffered in silence.

A stifled shout made Tenten want to tell the guard everything she knew, but all her willpower and training as a ninja told her otherwise.

"This is getting real old, real quick. I want an answer, now," he emphasized the last word.

Tenten's thoughts raced through her mind. _What am I going to do? _She thought fervently. _It's always Neji's ideas that get us out of a jam. What good am I? _She thought for a hopeless moment. But then, a new idea came to her head. _What the hell are you saying? You aren't on team Gai because of your looks! You didn't make it to jounin because Lady Tsunade liked your hair! No. You got here on your own skill. You've never dragged the team down. You're Tenten! You have perfect accuracy and amazing friends at home to fight for. You have a reason, a will to keep fighting. Don't think for a moment that you have anything that you didn't earn! _

The new voice of reason shouted over the old one and gave Tenten a new hope. It gave her t he courage to finally speak.

"No," she told him, finally able to form a coherent word. "No," she replied more firmly. She finally looked up at him and met his gaze. "I am a shinobi of the Leaf Village and I'll die before giving you any information!" she told him.

"Funny, you aren't the one in danger of losing his life," the guard replied easily.

Tenten was breathing more erratically now. The speech she had given the guard was more for her benefit than his and she guessed that he knew as much.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What do you know?" the guard threatened, holding the candle extremely close to Neji.

Tenten felt her leverage ebb away. What she thought was an advantage turned out to be nothing but bluff. She didn't know how much longer she could endure burning her teammate. The flame grew closer to flesh and in a moment, the acrid smell of burning oil reached her senses. By this point, Neji had third degree burns and there was nothing that she could do to ease his pain. The only up side to the disaster was that now, with the nerves dead, Neji wouldn't feel a thing.

"I can't feel anything, you know," Neji told the man in an eerily calm voice.

Tenten wanted to shout with joy. He was alive! She had known that he was alive, of course, but it was one thing to believe so and quite another to hear and be able to confirm his relative safety. She watched the guard scowl before pushing the candle closer to his hands. Neji remained unfazed by the gesture.

"Damn," the hooded man swore and extinguished the candle.

He dropped the object on the floor and walked out, coming back a moment later with a rope. Tenten knew the drill by now and waited as he attached it to her wrists. He left Neji and led her to the unknown. As they walked down the hallway, their captor appeared.

"Are you going to deal with her friend?" the hooded man asked.

"Yes. As for her, take her to the darkest room you can find and toss her in. We'll see how long she lasts," he told him.

"You're going to pay for this," Tenten hissed at him.

"Funny. You weren't saying that just a few hours ago," the man taunted and Tenten fought against her restraints.

"Hey, easy!" the man holding her jerked the rope which caused her to yelp.

"I'm not a dog, you mindless freak!" she yelled at him.

"We'll see. But I hope you had a nice last moments with Neji, Tenten," the other man said before disappearing from her view.

"Come on," the hooded man replied and forced her to walk to areas unaware.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked fiercely.

"Like the boss said, somewhere dark," he replied.

"You'll never get away with this," she said resolutely.

"And just who is going to save you? Neji?" the guard laughed.

"Don't count him out yet," she retorted.

The man grinned.

"You had better hope so,"

**A/N: **Yes, I know it has been a while, but I hope this chapter was satisfactory enough! Honestly though, it didn't come out the way I had wanted it to. I'm actually having a bit of writer's block right now, so if anyone wants to give me any suggestions, feel free to! And as always, thanks so much for sticking with me and reviews are appreciated!


	6. Visions

"Hello, Neji," the man entered the room.

The captive looked up and met the image of a masked man wearing a long, black cloak.

"What do you want?" Neji hissed in reply.

The man turned to face him and looked at him for a moment.

"It seems that I've underestimated you. Next time, I'll make sure that there aren't any holes in my plans," he explained, ignoring the question.

"What have you done with Tenten?" the captive demanded.

"So you're worried about her?" the man jeered. "No need. She's locked up somewhere, safe and sound. Although, I can't say the same for you,"

"What have you done with her?" Neji yelled again.

The captor barked a laugh. "She was very good," he answered perversely.

"What are you talking about?" the grey-eyed teen backtracked.

"You must not have known that she was still a virgin?" he taunted.

"You're bluffing," Neji countered, although he was curious as to whether or not the man spoke the truth.

"Well, I can't make you believe me," he answered. "I just thought you'd like to know the truth,"

Neji frantically raced through the past hours in his mind, wondering if there had indeed been something going on between his teammate and their perverted captor. Come to think of it, the guard had said something about hearing noises. And Tenten had confirmed his suspicions. But, why hadn't she said anything? Then again, what kind of self-respecting female would've?

"You care about her, right?" the voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"She's my teammate, of course I do," Neji answered.

"And you want to ensure her safety?" the man asked.

"What are you implying?" Neji wondered.

"I can control myself, but the guard that took her away is something else entirely," the man had a smirk in his voice.

"You would subject a female to torture twice in one day? You have no chivalry," Neji retorted.

"You can help her, you know," the man answered, ignoring the jibe.

"If you want me to give up our intelligence, you must be joking," he gestured to his burnt hands.

"Too bad then," he said and pulled out a roll of bandages, which he began wrapping around Neji's hands.

"Why bother making it comfortable if you're just going to kill us one way or another?" Neji asked hotly.

The man looked at him for a moment and Neji desperately wanted to discern his identity. This bastard had the nerve to test his mental capacity and was pulling every string.

"You're much more valuable to me alive than dead. However, if you continue being uncooperative, I certainly will take care of you and that includes Tenten," he threatened.

"I told you earlier, Tenten trained as a ninja just as I have and knows fully well the consequences of a failed mission," Neji said confidently.

"You sound very sure of yourself," the man replied. "We'll have to change that," again, there was a tone of maliciousness in his words.

Neji felt his blind spot being struck with a well-aimed jab. In the next instant, he couldn't see a thing in front of him and the only thing he could hear was the sound of a leaking facet.

_Genjutsu. _He thought immediately.

"Do you enjoy life, Neji?" a voice called out from the darkness.

Neji looked down and saw that he was still tied to the chair; even his hands were unable to move. Without them, there was no way for him to release the genjutsu.

"Answer me," the voice echoed.

"Fine. I enjoy living," Neji answered reluctantly, still looking for an escape.

"I asked you if you enjoy _life, _not living. But since we're on the subject, what makes living worthwhile?" the voice commanded.

"Just what are you getting at?" Neji demanded.

"Answer the question," Neji thought that there was no harm in answering the question so he hesitantly did so.

"Protecting those that I care most about," he said warily.

"And who exactly do you care about?" the voice questioned.

There was an unnerving silence as he waited for a response. It was then that Neji became acutely aware of the sound of dripping water. The methodical 'drip', 'drip' of the droplets was enough to drive the otherwise mentally sound boy insane. It hadn't actually reached that point yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Well?" The voice appeared to be more impatient this time.

"My friends, my teammates, the next generation of the village," the jounin replied grudgingly.

"Yes, all the usual answers. Is there someone in particular that you live for?" It seemed as if there was a never-ending string of pointless questions.

"Just what exactly are you trying to get at? What is the meaning of asking me all this?" Neji asked frankly.

"That is not your concern. Now, who do you live for?" the voice persisted.

Neji took a deep breath to quell his anger and thought about everyone he knew. There were his teammates, Tenten and Lee. Tenten had always proven herself an apt kunoichi. She was the most out-going of Team Gai and even if she was his polar opposite, he always trusted her to have his back. Lee was the determined one. He always worked hard and strove to achieve his ambitions. The level of effort he put into his training was alien to Neji, who had never worked as hard as the green-clad ninja in his life. There was also Naruto. The rambunctious and hyperactive shinobi had taught Neji a very important lesson. He taught him that destiny could still be manipulated, that fate was not concrete. If not for him, Neji believed that he would still be completely submissive to his future now.

And what about the adults in his life? As much as he disagreed with his sensei, there was no doubt in the jounin's mind that without him, he never would've made it as far as he did. Gai-sensei had taught him that confidence in oneself was important, but it was also important to be modest. He showed Neji that there is never only one way to complete a task, that there are multiple ways to overcome an obstacle. But most of all, he taught Neji to be flexible. _You must be like a blade of grass; you must sway in the wind. Neji, if you do not learn to take a different path, you won't go far. Being rigid will only impede you on your journey. _He remembered.

There were so many more people who had helped him get to the point he was at. There were so many people he needed to thank. But was there really one person whom he lived for? The jounin closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts. There was too much going through his brain and was affecting how his mind functioned. He concentrated on the sound of dripping water and soon, he had his answer.

"My father," he answered the voice. "He always told me to live to my full potential and to work hard,"

"How touching," the voice echoed unkindly. "But your father is dead, isn't he?" it mocked.

"My father gave his life for those precious to him! He gave his life for the clan!" Neji shouted in retaliation.

From the darkness a chuckle emitted. "Your father had someone to live for, to die for," it called. "Who would you die for? Who means so much to you that you would throw your life away for him?"

Neji still could not understand the ultimate motive of these questions other than to irritate and get a reaction out of him. They seemed personal if anything and didn't offer too much about the village.

"Who?"

Suddenly, faces appeared. In front of Neji was the hugely grinning Naruto, the smug Shikamaru, the canine-like smirk of Kiba, Tenten's cheerful close-eyed smile, Hinata's shy attempt at a smile, and more. This gave him his answer. How could he say that he would give his life for one person, but not another? How does one measure the value of a life? Were they all not equal? What would make his life any more valuable than Naruto's? There was no way to truly say that he would give his life for only one friend and not the other. This was the answer.

"I would give my life for any one of my friends," he replied confidently.

"Do you think that they would do the same for you?" he was asked.

Neji paused and the dripping of the water became pronounced once more. It seemed to become more obvious when Neji was deep in thought.

"You say that you would give your life for them, but would they say the same for you?" it asked again.

It was not something that was ever taught at the academy. They were always told that it was necessary to put your life on the line for the good of the mission and, ultimately, the good of the village. Nonetheless, it was an unspoken rule that you never betray a friend. Yes, it might have been necessary to leave Tenten al those days ago, but he had still felt remorse for doing so. What would she say if she knew what he had done? And what would she have done if she had been in his predicament? It was true that he had done what he thought was best, but maybe, it wasn't right. Theoretically, you left someone behind if that meant success. However, what about those who regretted making that very decision? In reality, the choice was never that easy. You got attached, involved. Your friends become major aspects of life that you could not live without.

It was also always so easy to say that you would put your life on the line for a friend. But were they willing to do the same? And would they consent to do so if they had just been betrayed in the name of the ninja code? Neji wasn't sure.

"I don't know," He finally answered and the faces vanished.

"If you are so willing to risk your life for theirs, then why did you abandon your teammate the first day?" the voice asked.

Again, Neji was silent before answering.

"I've been asking myself that since the day it happened," he replied.

From the darkness, a cruel laughter ensued.

"The simple answer would be because you don't care about her," it taunted.

Neji scowled. "That's not true!" he barked.

"Oh really? Then why was it that when she was being whipped, that you did nothing to help?" came the reply. "You could've told me what I wanted to know and neither of you would have been in this predicament,"

"I will never tell you anything!" Neji lashed out,

"Would you like to look into your future, Neji?" the voice asked.

"That's impossible. No one can see into the future," he scoffed.

"By thinking that, you are wrong,"

A dizzying moment later, Neji saw a flicker of light. There were shadows against the wall, which were illuminated by a few flickering candles. A closer look proved that he was looking at the silhouettes of people. On the opposite side, behind bars, were two people. They were both thin and angular. One was male and the other, female. Both had long brown hair which was unkempt. The male had a hungry look in his blank eyes, while the female looked scared and afraid. Neji noticed that she had the same look that prey would have before it was overpowered and devoured. He also immediately recognized himself and Tenten. _What is this? _He wondered.

It soon became evident when he saw himself pin Tenten beneath him. She began protesting, pushing against him as she tried to throw him off of her. He became persistent and forced his weight onto her. Neji watched in horror as his lookalike began tearing off his and Tenten's clothes. He felt as if he should move and try to stop his other self from raping his teammate. However, he found himself rooted to the spot and completely paralyzed. He couldn't look away either and instead, tried to close his eyes, but it was no use. He could still hear the ear-splitting cries. The shadows moved and Neji felt sicker than he had in a long time. The man in front of him was not him, that, he was sure. He would never try anything so uncivilized or brutal. A few more minutes of agony continued before the vision ebbed away and he felt himself back in the same place with the voice.

"What did you show me that for?" he gasped, feeling his chest tight.

"I told you; that is your future if you continue to resist," the voice answered evenly. "You believe that you can control yourself, that you will be able to fight against my methods. There will be a day however, when you lose yourself to madness. All men revert to instincts when placed in a dire situation. In this case, you will have been left alone for so long that you succumb to insanity. That is when you will strike out against one that you care so much for,"

Neji wanted to believe that the voice was wrong, but he had seen the vision with his own eyes. It was hard to believe such brutality and sadism could be fabricated. Even now, he could hear the kunoichi's screams of agony and felt the urge to pound his head against a wall in a vain attempt to rid himself of the painful sound.

_Why does this feel so real? _He asked himself. It was then that he noticed the sweat on his brow. _Something so vivid can't possibly have been devised. _His emotions were out of control and he disliked the feeling of nausea that was threatening to overwhelm him.

"It doesn't have to be that way," the voice chided. "Observe,"

Neji waited for the vision he knew would come and in the next moment, a bright scene was in front of him. He saw himself once more, this time; there was a small smile on his face. He and Tenten were now in front of the Leaf Village, as ironic as that was. She grabbed his arm and led him into the village, straight up to the Hokage Monument. He followed her and pointed to something in the sky, which caused her to smile and give a light laugh. Nothing in the scene seemed out of place, however inaccurate it was. This made it easier for Neji to take in than the last image.

Once the image had faded, he felt much differently than he had earlier.

"Your future is incorrect," he managed.

"And why is that?" the voice asked.

"If we gave you the information that you wanted, who is to say that you won't kill us afterward? And even if you didn't, do you think that the Village would welcome us back with open arms? As for the part about myself and Tenten, you have that messed up as well. She would be furious if she found out that I had betrayed the village. She is a loyal Leaf Village kunoichi and would never betray it. If I gave you any information regarding that matter, I would wake up with no less than five kunai in my body," he explained.

"You sound very sure of yourself," the voice noted.

"Your first vision was easier to take in, but with the exaggerated and inaccurate second one, I am convinced that neither are real, not that I believed the first one very much," Neji retorted smartly.

"We'll see about that in the future. In the meantime, I suppose I'll throw you in the cell with Tenten," it told him.

Neji felt the genjutsu being released and in the next instant, he was back in the barren room. He was still sitting down and tied and the man walked over to undo the ropes that bound him.

"If you make any attempt at an escape, I will cut your legs off," the masked man threatened.

"Hm," was his reply.

He felt the bind of the ropes slacken. However, in the next instant, the man seized a tight grip on him and led him out into the hall. Neji let the man lead grudgingly. He took the time to note every step he took, though, in the event that the information would be useful later.

**A/N: **Thank you very much to everyone who has been following this story, as usual! I know that I promised an update at least a few times a month, but that is not going to happen right now. I can tell you that as of now, this will be my last post for a while. For how long, I am not sure. All that I can confirm is that there won't be any more posts this month. I will be going on hiatus and hope to return shortly. Thank you and see you until then!


	7. Fin

IT cDone

If there's anyone still reading this, you're probably thinking "Oh my goodness, after nearly two years, has Aquaheart released a new chapter to this fic she wrote so long ago?" Alas, it is not so, dear reader. My sincerest apologies. When I first began writing fanfiction, I was a freshman in high school with all the time in the world and an intense passion for showing my shippings to the world. Now, I'm a freshman in college with much less time. I have matured both as a person and throughout my writing. Far from the SasuSaku fangirl I was before, I've moved onto more realistic expectations of my favorite pairings.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time her on Fanfiction, but alas, I no longer have the time or motivation to continue with my stories. Initially I was planning on finishing Illusions and the Truth before calling it quits-I even began writing the final chapter-but I realize now that it was something that I will never publish. The plot-line is all wrong, too rushed, not enough anticipation, etc. Essentially, it was something that I was not happy with. So I apologize to everyone who was looking forward to the ending of Illusions and the Truth. (Although at this point, I doubt anyone remembers what this story was even about.)

So what I'm trying to say is thank you to everyone who followed me for so long. Thank you to ever person who reviewed, liked, favorited, or followed any of my stories. It's been quite a journey that I'll never forget. Fanfiction, and the people who made it possible, have greatly contributed to my abilities as a writer. For now, I retire my pen. Who knows? Maybe I'll pick it back up one day, but that day will not be for some extensive period of time. Good luck to everyone.

Signed,

Aquaheart


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